Louisiana Longshot: A Miss Fortune Mystery (Miss Fortune Mysteries)

I was recommended this series as I love a female protagonist book series but this was pretty bad. The main character doesn't have a personality to be in the CIA. She is a daffy, look-at-me kind of person...not exactly what the CIA hires. The old ladies storyline is ridiculous. The whole story is ridiculous. Even with a suspension of disbelief you have when reading fiction, this was just sloppy and amateurish.
The humor failed, The drama failed. I am donating the book to the library.

I really wanted to like this book but I found the main character VERY unbelievable. She's supposed to be an undercover agent but she doesn't even try to get into character when on "assignment". I'll admit I didn't make it through the book. I just never warmed up to the characters or the plot and the humor that I was expecting just wasn't there.

I love my book club, but they sure pick a lot of downer literature to discuss. To counter all that seriousness, I asked my friends to recommend a _funny_ novel to read. I wish I recall who recommended _Louisiana Longshot_, because I owe that person chocolate.

In a way, Jana DeLeon's novel follows the standard "cozy mystery" formula: Our protagonist (usually a woman) finds herself in a new-to-her environment, rebooting her life, and encounters a dead body. For plausible reasons, this amateur finds herself needing to solve the mystery rather than leave it to law enforcement. A love interest doesn't hurt, either.

But DeLeon adds a delicious twist to the plot of Louisiana Longshot. Instead of the heroine being a librarian or knitting-shop owner or what-have-you, Fortune Redding is a CIA Agent who has a higher-than-average propensity for shooting. The result of one such mishap is that she has to hide out from someone who put a price on her head. The destination? The tiny town of Sinful, Louisiana, where she has to pretend to be a librarian (and former beauty queen). And, when she finds the remains of a the late-unlamented Harvey, instead of her sidekicks being a few women her own age, she's joined by a few old women who run the town (dubbed the Geritol Mafia). Then Things Happen.

As I was promised, the book is very funny. The characters are zany in a _nice_ way, which means they manage to come across as real people, not stick figures with amusing things to say.

The plot holds together, too. But even if it had not, my chuckles would have caused me to forgive it. For example: "'I had a bit of a fender bender,' Gertie said. 'Wasn't my fault, of course. It was a really stupid place to put a stop sign.'" ...and Fortune approaching a dive bar, thinking, "I completely understood Francine's sentiment about decent women not coming out here for a drink. I wouldn't walk in the place unless I had two guns pulled and an up-to-date tetanus shot."

The result is a very lighthearted novel that's an extremely quick read. It cheered me up in no time. This is beach reading at its finest.

This book is laugh out loud funny with a great story line with lots of plot twists and delightful characters.

Very poorly written book, with very little to redeem itself. The author took pages to write what a character had for breakfast at a diner; there was very little character development, the minimal plot dragged on for pages without any real developments- I definitely will not be reading any more books by this author.

There are portions of this book that I laughed out loud. Very entertaining reading.

Main character was so unlikeable. Who throws their shoes as garbage in a river stream? Disgusting litter bugs that’s who!

I’m the type of person that can suspend belief, enjoy corny things, watch hallmark movies and corny detective shows etc. but this book was really, really cringey. The main character had a weird personality type for a CIA “agent.” She complained a lot for someone who had a high kill body count and a top agent who has been through it all. Also, the author made it so hard for the main character to be the most basic form of “feminine”…for example wearing heels (she was just so dramatic about it) like even harder than assassinating people or defusing bombs. And then it was like the main character wasn’t raised in the US when that is her background. And she’s traveled all over the world and killed soooo many people. But she’s basically dumb and lacks basic common sense to things regarding the US…for example, not realizing there could be crocodiles in a swamp but walking in there to kill a frog. And never had or heard of basic things like okra or banana pudding before. Like, what?? I’m not even from the south, so I’m not being super sensitive. It’s just so annoying because you want to think this main character is capable of great things, but her actions and thoughts seem stupid, arrogant and lacking experience in the world (just not like the thoughts and feelings of a seasoned CIA agent). And the only reason the reader knows the character is a kick-ass is because she keeps touting how easy it is when she assassinated people etc. It really made this book so cringey and hard to read.

This story was pure fun right from the start. It's fast-paced and full of crazy action. The ending provided a twist I sure didn't see coming, which made me like it that much more.
The story is a lighthearted, funny story featuring some female senior citizens known as the “Geritol Mafia”. The protagonist is a young female CIA assassin who needs to hide out for a while.
This book has A great story to relax and enjoy, a mystery solved in amazing ways! I really enjoyed it very much.

I was referred to Jana Deleon and I am thrilled with her talent.